[Onthebarricades] Pro-democracy protests, Eastern Europe, Aug-Dec 2008

[global resistance roundup]

December

* CHECHNYA - RUSSIA: Mass protest after Russian war criminal paroled
* RUSSIA: Police smash opposition protests
* KOSOVO: Serb justice workers protest firing
* KOSOVO: Civil society groups protest Serb influence, EU police
* CROATIA: Anti-government Facebook protests "fizzle"
* UKRAINE: Horn honking protest against corruption
* BULGARIA: Corruption protest over MPs' bonuses
* ARMENIA: Protest over trial of opposition leaders
* BOSNIA: Kindergarten Santa ban protested
* SERBIA - PRESEVO - Protest over arrests of alleged former guerrillas

November

* HUNGARY - SLOVAKIA: Police violence at football game protested
* RUSSIA: Protest over beating of environmental activist
* BASHKORTOSTAN - RUSSIA - Bashkir leader holds mass protest against Moscow
* GEORGIA: Thousands protest Saakashvili
* ARMENIA: Opposition protesters "take a break"

October

* RUSSIA: Parliament siege remembered
* ALBANIA: Protest over crimes of former regime

August-September

* INGUSHETIA - RUSSIA: Police attack protests against local leader, 
death of journalist
* BELARUS: Opposition protests flawed vote
* ALBANIA: Protest over handling of depot blasts







http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081225/119175370.html

Over 1,000 protest parole of Chechen woman's murderer
19:29 | 25/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - More than 1,000 people took to the 
streets of Grozny on Thursday protesting a Russian court's decision to 
grant parole to a former Russian military officer guilty of murdering a 
young Chechen woman.
Yury Budanov, the former commander of a tank regiment during the second 
military campaign in Chechnya, was convicted in the summer of 2003 of 
murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman, Elsa Kungayeva, three years 
earlier and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
A court in the Volga basin's Ulyanovsk Region upheld his parole request 
on Wednesday. Budanov, whose parole had been rejected once by the same 
court, will leave jail 15 months early after January 11.
Budanov admitted killing Kungayeva, but claimed temporary insanity, 
saying he had strangled her in a fit of rage because he thought she was 
a sniper. His conviction came after a lengthy legal process involving a 
controversial retrial and numerous psychiatric reports.
Students, human rights activists, members of political parties and 
patriot organizations gathered on a central square in the Chechen 
capital carrying posters that read "The murderer must not be pardoned" 
and "Where is justice?"
An uncle of the killed Chechen woman, Lema Kungayev, slammed the court's 
ruling.
"We are angered by the court's decision and believe it to be unjust," he 
said. "In my opinion, the release of Budanov is a slap not just for the 
relatives but for every Chechen."
Kungayev said he could not believe that Budanov had repented for the 
killing. "On the contrary, he has threatened to punish us. This criminal 
must sit in prison," he said.
Russian society was divided over the issue, with human rights activists 
seeking the tank commander's conviction, and other groups, including the 
military, supporting him.





http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=162292

Over 1,000 in Chechnya protest parole of colonel

More than 1,000 people have gathered in the Chechen capital of Grozny to 
protest a court's decision to grant parole to a Russian colonel 
convicted of murder.

Protesters on a central Grozny square on Thursday carried posters 
reading "A murderer should sit in prison" and "Murderers deserve life 
sentences."
A court in Dimitrovgrad ruled earlier this week that Col. Yuri Budanov 
be released 8½ years into his 10-year sentence. Budanov was arrested in 
early 2000 and convicted in 2003 of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen 
woman, Heda Kungayeva. He admitted strangling her, but said he did it in 
a fit of rage while interrogating her believing her to be a rebel sniper.
Budanov's case has been closely watched as a test of authorities' 
determination to deal with abuses in Chechnya.








http://www.rferl.org/Content/Hundreds_Protest_Release_Of_Murderer_In_Grozny/1364827.html

Hundreds Protest Release Of Murderer In Grozny

December 29, 2008
Hundreds of Chechens have been protesting in Grozny against a court 
decision last week to grant parole to a Russian Army colonel convicted 
of murdering a teenage Chechen girl, RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service 
reports.

A court in Dimitrovgrad ruled on December 24 that Colonel Yury Budanov 
be released 8 1/2 years into his 10-year sentence, although he is to 
remain in prison until January.

Budanov was arrested in early 2000 and convicted in 2003 of murdering 
18-year-old Elza Kungayeva.

The protest in Chechnya's capital appears to have been organized by the 
republic's authorities.

But the public indignation is quite genuine -- a lot of people are very 
upset by this decision, especially as so many Chechens spend 20 years in 
Russian prisons without parole for much lesser offenses.

-- Aslan Doukaev










http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_603005.html?source=rss&feed=7

Police break up Moscow protest
By The Associated Press
Monday, December 15, 2008

MOSCOW -- Police thwarted a banned anti-Kremlin protest in central 
Moscow on Sunday, seizing dozens of demonstrators and shoving them into 
trucks.
Organizers said 130 people were detained around the capital but police 
put the number at 90. The opposition movement headed by fierce Kremlin 
critic and former chess champion Garry Kasparov said the co-leader of 
the group was one of those seized.
The Other Russia movement organized the protest, in defiance of a ban, 
to draw attention to Russia's economic troubles and to protest Kremlin 
plans to extend the presidential term from four years to six. Critics 
say the constitutional change as part of a retreat from democracy and is 
aimed at strengthening the grip of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his 
allies.
News broadcasts on the main television networks made no mention of the 
Moscow crackdown or of protests in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok.
Kasparov and other prominent liberals have just launched a new 
anti-Kremlin movement called Solidarity in a bid to unite Russia's 
liberal forces and encourage a popular revolution similar to those in 
Ukraine and Georgia.
Kasparov had vowed to carry out yesterday's protest although authorities 
had denied permission for it.
Before the scheduled start, hundreds of officers guarded Triumph Square, 
which was ringed by police trucks and metal barriers.
Police roughly grabbed protesters who tried to enter the square, 
dragging at least 25 people into waiting trucks.
Police seized Other Russia co-leader Eduard Limonov along with a handful 
of bodyguards as they walked toward the square. They were bundled into 
police vehicles.
Kasparov and a group of supporters decided to avoid police by marching 
in a different location, then set off for a third site after finding 
another strong police presence, spokeswoman Marina Litvinovich said.






http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/europe/15russia.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Russian Antigovernment Protesters Detained


By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ
Published: December 14, 2008
MOSCOW— The Russian police detained dozens of antigovernment protesters 
attempting to hold an unsanctioned rally in Moscow on Sunday.
Police officers and armored riot control personnel prevented the planned 
protest in central Moscow from materializing, in the latest sign that 
public expression of dissent against the authorities would not be 
tolerated under President Dmitri A. Medvedev any more than it had been 
under his predecessor, Vladimir V. Putin.
As many as 100 people were detained, including Eduard Limonov, the head 
of the banned National Bolshevik Party, said a spokeswoman for Other 
Russia, a coalition of opposition groups led by Mr. Limonov and the 
former chess champion Garry Kasparov, among others. The police said that 
about 10 people were detained during a similar protest in St. 
Petersburg, Interfax reported.
The Moscow demonstration was meant as a protest of the Kremlin’s 
handling of the financial crisis and its plans to change the 
Constitution to extend presidential and parliamentary term limits. 
Government critics say such a move could be used to extend the authority 
of Mr. Putin, who is now prime minister, and possibly lead to his early 
return to the presidency.
Mr. Putin, while he has said Mr. Medvedev will remain president until 
his term ends in 2012, has not ruled out running for a third term after 
that.
As with similar protests organized by Other Russia, the authorities 
denied permission for demonstrators to hold Sunday’s rally, called the 
Dissenters’ March, but organizers vowed to go ahead.
The police appeared to have foreknowledge of who would attend, detaining 
individuals as they arrived at the designated protest site and taking 
them to waiting buses. Others were detained when they unveiled banners 
or shouted slogans.
The rally was scheduled to correspond with the establishment over the 
weekend of a new opposition group, Solidarity, an organization modeled 
on the 1980s Polish movement of the same name. Mr. Kasparov is among the 
founding members of the new organization.
On the opening day of Solidarity’s founding congress on Friday, a 
busload of dead and wounded sheep was dumped outside the meeting hall in 
a Moscow suburb. The sheep were clad in baseball caps and T-shirts with 
Solidarity written on them, according to Mr. Kasparov’s Web site, and it 
was not clear who had dumped them.






http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013406107

Russian Police Detain Nearly 150 Protestors, Stop Two Rallies
ShareThis
December 14, 2008 4:45 p.m. EST

AHN Staff
Moscow, Russia (AHN) - Police in Moscow and St Petersburg detained about 
150 protestors for holding unauthorised rallies and prevented two 
demonstrations by anti-government marchers on Sunday.
Police officials said that they detained protestors tried to hold an 
unauthorized march of dissent and provoke clashes, according to the RIA 
Novosti news agency.
Dozens of people were arrested in Moscow in two different places and at 
least 10 people were detained at St. Petersburg as police blocked 100 
anti-Kremlin protesters from marching on the city's main thoroughfare.
Some of the opposition leaders, including Eduard Limonov, the head of 
the banned National Bolshevik Party (NBP), were among those arrested. 
The NBP is outlawed by a court decision for their extremist activities.
Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion and leader of the United 
Civil Front, had indicated that the protestors would go ahead with the 
march in Moscow, despite failing to receive permission for the rally, 
according to the RIA Novosti.
Almost 200 opposition protesters had gathered from 40 regions of the 
country met at the outskirts of Moscow and launched the anti-Kremlin 
movement called "Solidarity".
"The rallies were held to coincide with the Decembrist uprising which 
took place in Imperial Russia on December 12, 1825," said RT, a Russian 
news agency.
The protest is aimed to "dismantle the Putin regime," according to 
Kasparov as he spoke to over 100 protesters ahead of the scheduled march 
Sunday.








http://www.moscowtimes.ru/articles/detail.php?ID=373126

Police Detain 90 For Illegal Protest
15 December 2008Police thwarted an anti-Kremlin protest organized by the 
Other Russia opposition group on Sunday, seizing demonstrators and 
shoving them into trucks. Moscow police detained 90 people, including 
the group's co-leader and a Moscow Times reporter.







http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24800619-12335,00.html

100 arrested at protests
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 From correspondents in Moscow | December 15, 2008
Article from: Agence France-Presse
AT least 100 people were arrested at opposition protests in two major 
Russian cities organised by Kremlin critic and former world chess 
champion Garry Kasparov, police say.
Dozens were detained and forced into police buses at Triumfalnaya Square 
in central Moscow on Sunday, where Kasparov and other activists had 
planned to hold an unsanctioned "Dissenter's March''.
The arrests came a day after Kasparov and fellow government critics 
launched a new opposition group, Solidarity, and vowed to ``dismantle'' 
the regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Several hundred metres away on Pushkin Square an AFP photographer saw 
about 15 elderly people who said they were retired military officers 
being detained by police as they prepared to head for the march.
"Around 90 people were detained,'' police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.
The detained activists included writer Eduard Limonov, founder of the 
National Bolshevik Party, a banned radical group, his aide Alexander 
Averin told AFP by telephone from a bus where they were being held.
It was not immediately clear what happened to Kasparov.






http://www.sptimes.ru/story/27820

Tensions Mount Over Mass Protest
By Sergey Chernov
Staff Writer
City Hall on Thursday downgraded a major oppositional protest event 
scheduled for Sunday to a stationary meeting at the Chernyshevsky 
Gardens, far from the city center, organizers said after meeting with 
officials. The protest is the latest in a series of actions that are 
known as Dissenters’ Marches,
Last week, City Hall rejected three routes suggested for the march by 
the rally organizers, without offering an alternative as they are 
legally required to do, prompting the applicants to file a lawsuit 
against the local government on Monday.
Although they have agreed to a stationary meeting at the Chernyshevsky 
Gardens, the majority of organizers and participants will gather at a 
previously announced starting point near Gostiny Dvor Metro at 2 p.m. on 
Sunday, Olga Kurnosova, the local leader of Garry Kasparov’s United 
Civil Front (OGF), said by phone on Thursday.
“[Participants will gather] at Gostiny Dvor and move along sidewalks, in 
an organized way, toward the Chernyshevsky Gardens,” Kurnosova said. The 
approximate distance between the two points is 3 kilometers. The gardens 
will be open to protesters from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Kurnosova said.
Dissenters’ Marches were introduced as the main form of mass protest in 
2006 by the Other Russia, a pro-democracy coalition formed by OGF and 
Eduard Limonov’s banned National Bolshevik Party. Held several times a 
year, the marches, which have attracted up to 6,000 protesters at a 
single event, were frequently dispersed by the OMON special forces 
police, with many arrests and police beatings reported.
Sunday’s march is targeted against changes to the Russian Constitution 
that will prolong the presidential and State Duma terms from four years 
to six and five years respectively. The measures were proposed by 
President Dmitry Medvedev last month and are currently being approved by 
regional parliaments. The way the Kremlin is dealing with the economic 
crisis will also come in for criticism according to flyers published by 
the organizers.
“Change Those in Power, and Not the Constitution” and “Authorities, Take 
Responsibility for the Crisis,” stickers advertising the rally state.
Oppositionists said City Hall had no right by Russian law to change the 
form of the rally from a march to a stationary meeting, but agreed to 
the offer to avoid clashes with the police.
“Unlike the executive authority and law enforcers, first and foremost 
for us is the safety of civilians, while for them it’s orders from 
Moscow,” Kurnosova said.
“That’s why, for us at least, having an official document means, 
morally, that we do everything we could to provide this safety. So the 
march will take place come rain or shine.”
Earlier this month, Leonid Bogdanov, the head of the city government’s 
Law, Order and Secutity Committee, rejected the three suggested routes 
in a three-page letter, stating reasons ranging from repair works to the 
possible “distraction of drivers’ and pedestrians’ attention from 
following the traffic rules, which may lead to possible road traffic 
accidents.”
However, after the oppositionists announced that the Dissenters’ March 
would go ahead anyhow — the Russian Constitution guarantees the freedom 
to hold peaceful public gatherings — tensions between the authorities 
and the oppositionists mounted.
OGF member Mikhail Makarov was visited at his home by police, including 
the deputy head of the Vasileostrovsky District Police department, at 10 
p.m. on Tuesday, Kurnosova said. The officers wanted Makarov to record a 
video in which he would say he was ceasing to organize the Dissenters’ 
March, but Makarov considered the demand “unlawful” and declined.
On Thursday morning, Kurnosova’s mother was visited by a district police 
officer who demanded to know where Kurnosova was, she said.
Late last month, Kurnosova was summoned to the southern Russian town of 
Astrakhan, where she is a suspect in a criminal case for allegedly 
smuggling a can of caviar. She was held there for 10 days by 
investigators. She returned to St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
“I think they will continue to take great pains to complicate my 
activities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other places in Russia,” she said.
On Sunday, a Dissenters’ March will also be held in Moscow, despite a 
ban from the Mayor’s Office, as well as in a number of the other Russian 
cities.









http://www.b92.net//eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=12&dd=24&nav_id=55959

Justice workers protesting in northern Kosovo 24 December 2008 | 11:40 | 
Source: Beta KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Serb justice workers in northern 
Kosovska Mitrovica have protested this morning in front of the District 
Court building at not being allowed to return to work.

They were due to resume their jobs in line with an earlier agreement 
with UNMIK.

The justice workers have warned representatives of the international 
mission that a solution to the problem is impossible without an 
agreement with the Serb community, and have warned of a blockade of the 
court unless Serb prosecutors and judges are allowed to return to their 
posts.

The Serbs say that UNMIK has failed to honor an agreement whereby, 
following the arrival of international prosecutors and judges at the 
court building in early October, their Serb counterparts were due to 
reassume their positions as part of the second phase, starting on 
December 2.

The court in northern Kosovska Mitrovica has been out of operation since 
March 17, after clashes between UNMIK police and Serb demonstrators who 
gathered after the arrest of Serb prosecutors and judges. One Ukrainian 
police officer died and 200 people were injured during the violence that 
ensued.

A spokesman for the justice workers, Nikola Kabašić, told journalists 
that UNMIK had been drawing out talks with the Serbs, and that the 
latest date set for the withdrawal of UNMIK personnel from the building 
was January 15.

They are due to be replaced by EULEX prosecutors and judges








http://www.nowpublic.com/world/kosovo-civil-society-protests-increased-serbian-influence

Kosovo Civil Society Protests Increased Serbian Influence
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by AP101 | December 3, 2008 at 08:39 am
67 views | 0 Recommendations | 4 comments
Photos

November 24, 2008, Prishtina, Kosovo: Thousands of Kosovar citizens took 
to the streets of Prishtina last week to protest a United Nations 
proposal to increase Serbia's influence in Kosovo.

The proposal, put forth by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 
consultation with the Serbian government, would give Serbia broad 
administrative powers over Serb majority areas within the Republic of 
Kosovo. These would include control of the police, judiciary, 
transportation and infrastructure, boundaries, customs and religious sites.

Civil society groups fear that the proposal would essentially partition 
Kosovo by putting a third of the country's territory under Serbian 
control, and pave the way for the equivalent of the Bosnian Serb enclave 
(Republika Srpska) within Kosovo's borders.

Last week's march opposing the move was organized by more than 20 
Kosovar civil society organizations, including the Kosova Women's 
Network (KWN), a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP). "KWN fully 
supports citizens in this effort, agreeing that any political decision 
concerning Kosovo should be made by citizens rather than imposed by 
outside international bodies," the group said in a statement.

The UN proposal came after Serbia refused to accept the deployment of 
the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) in northern Kosovo, which 
is supposed to gradually replace the UN administration there. Serbia 
asserts that UN Security Council Resolution 1244, passed at the end of 
the 1998-1999 conflict between Serbs and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian 
majority, only gives the UN administrative powers in Kosovo. This 
resolution also refers to Kosovo as Serbia's "southern province," not as 
an independent state.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 
and has been recognized by 52 UN member states, including 22 European 
Union members and all bordering states except Serbia. KWN and other 
civil society groups contend that the new UN proposal would threaten 
Kosovo's territorial sovereignty, violate its constitution, and 
jeopardize the fragile peace that has been secured in Southeast Europe.

The protesters also point out that many Serbs who live in enclaves in 
Kosovo are opposed to increased Serbian governmental influence. Kosovo's 
constitution already guarantees Serb representation in the Assembly of 
the Republic of Kosovo, seats as Ministers and Deputy Ministers, access 
to media in the Serb language, representation on the Kosovo Judicial 
Council and national language rights. Efforts have also been made to 
include Serb citizens in public institutions, such as the police force.

KWN and other civil society organizations are calling for international 
pressure on Serbia to accept the independence of Kosovo and the 
deployment of the EULEX mission. They also want the Serbian government 
to support the Kosovo Status Settlement, proposed by UN Special Envoy 
Martti Ahtisaari. This would grant Kosovo a flag, anthem, and the right 
to make international agreements and seek membership in international 
institutions.

Such recognition, as well as retribution for crimes committed against 
the citizens of Kosovo in 1998 and 1999, should be a precondition for 
Serbia to join the EU, they said.







http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3843753,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Eastern Europe | 02.12.2008
EU Kosovo Mission Put Back Amidst Pristina Protests

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: December 9 is the new 
start date for Eulex police officers and officals
The transfer of security duties from the UN to the European Union was 
supposed to demonstrate the bloc's involvement and bolster peace in 
Kosovo. But no one seems very happy with what's become a mission of 
compromises.

Eulex troops were supposed to start taking over maintaining security in 
Kosovo from UN forces on Tuesday, Dec. 2, but that start has been 
delayed a week.
"We are ready, but there is some fine tuning to be settled first," Eulex 
spokesman Viktor Reuter told the dpa news agency in the Kosovan capital 
Pristina. The mission, which would see some 2,000 police officers and 
officials help Kosovo keep law and order, is now set to commence on Dec. 9.
The "fine tuning" refers to the implementation of a six-point plan 
announced last week by the United Nations and is aimed at opposition to 
the mission by Serbia, which claims Kosovo as part of its territory.
In the aftermath of the 1990s Balkans Wars, Kosovo -- the majority of 
whose inhabitants are ethnic Albanians -- was put under UN 
administration. In February of this year, the Assembly of Kosovo 
declared its independence from Serbia.
More than 50 countries, including the US, Britain and Germany, 
recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state, but the move angered Serbia and 
Belgrade's main ally Russia.
According the six-point plan, the UN would retain control over Mitrovica 
and other northern regions of Kosovo that border or are near Serbia. But 
that compromise has, in turn, upset ethnic Albanians.
De facto partition?
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 
Anti-EULEX protests in Kosovo
Thousands of ethnic Albanians took to the streets of the Kosovan capital 
Pristina on Tuesday to protest against what they fear amounts to the 
division of Kosovo.
The mission was "masking Kosovo's partition," protest organizer Albin 
Kurti, told the demonstrators
Kosovo's political leadership is unhappy as well.
"For us…it's important …to see Eulex deployed as soon as possible across 
Kosovo," the country's president Fatmir Sejdiu topld dpa news agency on 
Tuesday.
Those sentiments echoed a statement made by Kosovo's prime minister, 
Hashim Thaci, the day before.
"The mission will only be meaningful if from day one it is also 
installed in the northern Mitrovica," Thaci said.
Meanwhile Belgrade is lobbying NATO to lift a buffer zone, agreed upon 
in 1999, that prohibits the Serbian military from the immediate vicinity 
of the Serbia-Kosovo border.

DW staff






http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3843355,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-news-1092-rdf

02.12.2008 | 16:00 UTC
Thousands of Kosovo Albanians protest EU police force.
Thousands of Kosovo Albanians have gathered in the capital Pristina to 
protest against the deployment of a European Union police mission, 
saying it threatens Kosovo's sovereignty. EU police are to take over 
from the UN's post war mission on December 9, with a mandate to oversee 
Kosovo's transition in a neutral capacity. The UN backed plan 
provisionally leaves Serb enclaves in the North under the UN umbrella. 
Albanian Kosovars fear this will lead to partition.






http://www.b92.net//eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=12&dd=02&nav_id=55457

Anti-EULEX protest in Priština 2 December 2008 | 15:55 | Source: Beta 
PRIŠTINA -- Thousands of people attended a peaceful protest in Priština 
today against UNMIK and the deployment of EULEX mission in Kosovo.

Protesters 'issue' Zannier with new ID (Tanjug)
The protest organized by the Kosovo Albanian NGOs ended without 
incident. UNMIK Chief Lamberto Zannier was proclaimed a persona non 
grata in Kosovo at the rally.

The protest was organized by some 20 NGOs and the Self-Determination 
movement, with the support of the Kosovo's independent unions, whose 
president spoke at the gathering.

Self-Determination leader Albin Kurti said that the neutral status of 
the EU mission "essentially means that it does not recognize Kosovo 
independence and that the process of confirming its status remains open".

For the first time, there were chants against the president and prime 
minister, while Hashim Thaci was declared a traitor.

Other slogans that were heard were “Kosovo in the EU, but not under the 
EU”, “No Partition”, and “Kosovo is Ours.”

The protestors called on UNMIK and EULEX to leave Kosovo immediately.

It was also said at the rally that the EU mission in Kosovo is a 
“product of Serbia” and signs were seen which read, “EULEX – Made in 
Serbia.”

Kosovo police, KPS, officials were seen only in front of the EULEX 
headquarters in Priština, even though the protesters walked through all 
of the town.







http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-12/2008-12-10-voa60.cfm?CFID=157779097&CFTOKEN=21697209&jsessionid=00304ed9f045de25b830726578662c2f4620

EU Mission Deploys in Kosovo Amid Protests
By Stefan Bos
Budapest
10 December 2008
The European Union has begun deploying its largest justice and police 
mission ever in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia earlier 
this year. The EU mission began amid protests in the country, which is 
still recovering from the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

French gendarmerie personnel, serving in EULEX on the Jarinje checkpoint 
on the border between Serbia and Kosovo, 09 Dec 2008
The first members of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, 
or EULEX, unpacked their blue berets and fresh uniforms, and began 
deploying across the mainly ethnic-Albanian territory of Kosovo.

About 3,000 people, including 1,900 international and 1,100 local staff 
members, will eventually participate in EULEX, described as the largest 
civilian mission in the EU history.

The head of EULEX, retired French General Yves de Kermabon, told 
reporters his mission of judges, prosecutors, police, custom officials 
and correctional officers will help build government institutions in 
Kosovo, which is still recovering from Balkan wars.

"I can affirm today that we are ready to start fulfilling the mission," 
he said. "It means that we have the minimum requirement to do this and 
to work with our [Kosovo] counterparts in the three components: Justice, 
police and customs."

Yet, EULEX strongly relies on 16,000 peacekeepers of the Western 
military alliance, NATO, for protection, as it finds itself unwanted by 
either side of Kosovo's ethnic divide - ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

In recent weeks, thousands of people from across Kosovo have 
demonstrated against the EU mission. Ethnic-Albanian protesters view it 
as an attempt to impose European control over their young nation of 
about two million people. Kosovo's Serb minority is against EULEX 
because most EU member states supported Kosovo's declaration of 
independence from Serbia, earlier this year.

European Union policemen wearing the bloc's insignia in Kosovo's capital 
Pristina, 27 Nov. 2008
Despite these disagreements, Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci 
supports EULEX. In comments translated by France 24 television, he said 
the EU mission could help restore law and order for all ethnic groups in 
Kosovo.

"This mission will strengthen the republic of Kosovo's institution's and 
can only extend its authority," he said. "Any action taken by EULEX will 
be taken in agreement with our constitution."

EULEX is to take over from the United Nations, which has ruled Kosovo 
since 1999, following a war between Serbian forces and independence 
seeking ethnic Albanians. U.N. officials said they will remain in Kosovo 
to oversee a smooth transition.

EULEX is under international pressure to help improve Kosovo's 
struggling legal system. Western observers say courts are swamped with 
cases and that corruption is rampant.







http://www.b92.net//eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=11&dd=19&nav_id=55132

Priština protest against UN plan over 19 November 2008 | 15:02 -> 16:46 
| Source: B92, Beta, Tanjug PRIŠTINA -- Around 5,000 Albanians have 
protested today in Priština against the six-point plan for UNMIK 
reconfiguration.

Carrying Albanian and Kosovo flags, and chanting a range of pro-Kosovo 
Liberation Army and anti-UNMIK slogans, around 5,000 Albanians began 
their protest at midday against the proposed six-point plan for the 
reconfiguration of the international presence in Kosovo, where UNMIK 
would retain control of the police and customs in northern Kosovo, and 
in the other majority-Serb enclaves south of the Ibar .

A network of 30 non-governmental organizations in Kosovo, led by the 
Self-Determination movement, organized the protest “against the 
imposition of conditions for the EULEX deployment.“

Demonstrators carried banners reading “No to the Ban Ki-moon Six-Point 
Plan“, “Sovereignty, Independence, Freedom“, “KLA“ and others. The 
protest’s motto was “Everyone against the Ban Ki-moon Six-Point Kosovo 
Plan”.

The protestors said that the plan compromised their sovereignty and 
territorial integrity, as it paved the way for a partition of Kosovo, 
whereby, stressed Igbala Rugova, the president of the Kosovo Women’s 
Network, one-third of the province’s territory would be under the 
control of parallel Serb structures and Serbia.

“We no longer wish to be an experiment. Kosovo is no longer an 
experiment, Kosovo is a state,“ said Rugova.

The other speakers echoed these views, stating that the protest had been 
organized to give a resounding “no“ to the six-point plan.

Addressing protestors at the end of the protest, Self-Determination 
leader Albin Kurti announced a series of demonstrations against the 
disputed plan.

The protest passed peacefully and without incident.

Kosovo Police spokesman Veton Elshani said earlier that the police had 
not been officially notified of the protest and that the KPS had found 
out about the rally through local media reports.

Leader of the Self-Determination Movement Albin Kurti, one of the 
organizers of the protest, said that Kosovo did not need the EU mission, 
rather the government should have jurisdiction over the entire province.

“The international presence in Kosovo should not carry with it executive 
power, change laws or ministers. The presence should be of an advisory 
nature,” Kurti said.

“It is unacceptable for the UN and Serbia not to recognize Kosovo but 
negotiate over Kosovo. So we have a problem of principles here. All the 
issues in the six-point document are the concern of the Kosovo 
government and institutions,” he underlined.








http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90853/6536995.html

Kosovo Albanians stage protests against UN plan

+
-
08:44, November 20, 2008

Thousands of ethnic Albanians protested Wednesday in the Kosovo capital 
Pristina against the UN plan over the deployment of the EU Rule of Law 
mission (EULEX).

"All against 6 points of Ban Ki Moon" was the motto of the two-hour 
protest organized by the network of 30 NGOs denying a conditional 
deployment of EU mission in the territory.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon offered a six-point plan to Pristina 
authorities last week on the modalities of EULEX deployment causing 
anger to Kosovars.

The six-point plan arranges the aspects of customs, police, border 
controls, justice, transport and Serb religious heritage in Kosovo. It 
is based on Belgrade recommendations to UN over these issues, therefore 
Serbia accepts the plan and the deployment of EULEX if it is granted by 
a UN Security Council.

The head of Self-determination movement Albin Kurti led the protest, 
claiming that "UN and Serbia have no right to discuss for Kosovo if they 
do not recognize its independence."

The Kosovo government and President Fatmir Sejdiu completely rejected 
Ban's plan and offered their four-point plan as an option to resolve the 
issue.

According to the four-point plan, Kosovo agrees on a quick deployment of 
EULEX in accordance with Kosovo Constitution and Status Settlement 
Proposal of UN status envoy Marti Ahtisaari. The plan also agrees on 
close cooperation of Kosovo institutions with EULEX, and with NATO, the 
European Union and the United States.

The demonstration was called before Pristina's refusal of the plan, but 
Kurti insisted for the protest despite the government's move.

The leader of Women Network of Kosovo, Igballe Rogova, said that Ban 
Ki-Moon's plan leads the territory towards partition.

Kosovo, the breakaway province of Serbia and with an ethnic 
Albanian-majority, unilaterally declared independence on Feb. 17 
following almost nine years of UN administration.

The EULEX is designed to replace the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), but 
local Serbs and Belgrade are strongly opposing its deployment in Serb 
localities in Kosovo without a Resolution of UN Security Council.

No local politicians or officials joined the protest which ended 
peacefully outside the UNMIK headquarters in Pristina.

Source:Xinhua








http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2429207,00.html

Albanians protest UN plan
19/11/2008 17:40 - (SA)

Pristina - Thousands of ethnic Albanians have rallied in Kosovo to 
protest a United Nations plan they say will split the country along 
ethnic lines.
The UN plan would see some powers shift from central government to local 
police, customs and judicial officials.
Protesters in Pristina on Wednesday said it would give more power to 
officials in Serb-majority areas who opposed Kosovo's independence in 
February.
They say it would give Serbia a say over Kosovo's affairs.
The plan was drafted to try to win Belgrade's support for a European 
Union police mission for Kosovo.
Kosovo's leaders have rejected the UN plan but Western diplomats are 
pressing them to agree.
An explosive device was thrown at EU offices in the capital Pristina 
last week in a sign of growing tensions.
- AP






http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php?id=2070

08. 12. 08. - 12:00
Anti-government Facebook protests fizzle
Croatian Times
Anti-government protests organized on Facebook fizzled Friday when 
roughly 3,500 people turned out for a demonstration that organizers 
hoped would draw 60,000.

About 2,500 people gathered in the capital, Zagreb. Several hundred 
turned up in Croatia's second-largest city, Split, and a few hundred 
more in five other cities to protest government austerity measures.

"It's easier to click a mouse, in the safety of your home, than show up 
in public," said Jaksa Matovinovic, a spokesman for the group that 
organized the protest.

Still, the protests demonstrated that online social networks have began 
to have some political impact in this former Yugoslav republic, where 
only 2 in 5 households have access to the Internet

Younger generations are well-versed in the Internet, but gaffes by some 
politicians reflect Croatia's relative computer illiteracy.

Speaker of parliament Vladimir Seks called the social networking Web 
site "Facebok." Opposition lawmaker Mato Arlovic, spoke of "emajl" - 
enamel in Croatian - when he meant e-mail. And former Interior Minister 
Ivica Kirin called YouTube "Jubito" in a widely played clip posted on 
that site.

The Facebook group, called "Tighten your own belt, you gang of knaves," 
criticized Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's measures to fight a potential 
financial crisis, saying they would hurt the average Croat while 
politicians and the rich would be unscathed. It also blames the 
government for failing to fight crime and corruption.

"Only united we are becoming a force that no one can ignore," the 
group's leader, Josip Dell Olio, told the crowd in Zagreb.

Recent police questioning of two members of Facebook groups critical of 
the government signalled that politicians may not be prepared for a new, 
cyberspace opposition.

Irate Croat politicians still sometimes place calls over critical 
stories in traditional news media, and occasionally, stories are being 
pulled or changed as a consequence.

Although there are few formal restrictions, Croatia still has some ways 
to go in shedding its authoritarian past, first imposed by communism and 
then by the nationalist forces that ruled the ex-Yugoslav country in the 
1990's.






http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/12/23/ukraine-a-loud-protest/

Ukraine: A Loud Protest

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 @ 00:16 UTC
by Veronica Khokhlova
Ukrainiana writes about and posts video of a very loud protest in Kyiv: 
“On December 22, at noon, Kyivites honked their horns to protest against 
rampant government corruption and endless power struggles wrecking the 
Ukrainian Dream amid the country’s deepest economic crisis since the 
early ‘90s.”







http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/1220/1229725700935.html

Saturday, December 20, 2008
Bulgarians protest at state corruption as MPs take bonuses
DANIEL McLAUGHLIN
ABOUT 2,000 Bulgarians protested in their capital, Sofia, yesterday, 
amid growing anger at crime and corruption and the government's handling 
of mounting economic problems.
Dissatisfaction with the country's leaders was exacerbated by news that 
MPs had voted to pay themselves Christmas bonuses totalling more than 
€350,000, at a time of almost daily factory closures, redundancies and 
increasing difficulties for ordinary people in repaying loans and 
finding new credit.
More than 1,000 farmers drove hundreds of tractors into Sofia to demand 
higher government subsidies for their produce and relief from growing 
bank pressure over their debts. "We face bankruptcies," said farmer 
Vasil Dimitrov (35). "All these tractors have been bought with credit 
and banks have already started pressing us."
"It's better for the government to disappear. It is unable to run the 
country," added another farmer, Alexander Dimashki (61). "Corruption has 
taken over."
The European Union stripped Sofia of €220 million in aid last month, and 
said Bulgaria might lose another €340 million if it failed to curb graft 
and political interference in funding processes by the end of 2009.
Opinion polls suggest 75 per cent of the population disapprove of the 
parliament's work and two-thirds want the government to resign. A 
general election is due next year. Politicians were lambasted by the 
media and non-governmental groups for taking a Christmas bonus, despite 
having been sanctioned by the EU and failing to push through reforms.
"We've had enough," environmental group For Nature said in a statement. 
"We want a state without corruption, lawlessness and damage to natural, 
human and intellectual resources."
Hundreds of young Bulgarians also marched yesterday to protest a rise in 
violent crime, after a student was beaten to death two weeks ago.
"Bulgaria needs criticism, but it also needs support," prime minister 
Sergei Stanishev argued this week, after another rebuke from Brussels 
over his government's failure to crush crime and corruption. "EU 
integration doesn't always run smoothly because we are a new member and 
we are learning. Bulgarians deserve to be treated on an equal footing 
with other Europeans," he said.






http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp081219164045.7uflt9jap1&show_article=1

Protestors chant slogans outside the courthouse in Yerevan, Armenia

Protestors chant slogans outside the courthouse in Yerevan, Armenia, 
where the trial of former Armenian foreign minister Alexander Arzumanian 
is underway. Seven top opposition supporters, including former foreign 
minister Arzumanian, went on trial in Armenia Friday on charges of 
seeking to overthrow the government in unrest this year that left 10 dead.









http://news.scotsman.com/world/Protests-over-ban-on-Santa.4826290.jp

Protests over ban on Santa

Published Date: 29 December 2008
HUNDREDS of Bosnians have protested against a recent ban on Santa Claus 
in Sarajevo kindergartens.
The directors of day-care centres and kindergartens banned Santa arguing 
that the capital is predominantly Muslim and Santa Claus is not part of 
the Muslim tradition.

A multi-religious mix of parents, children and others staged a public 
protest requesting Santa be restored.

Santa, locally as Father Frost, has previously given out presents to 
generations of Bosnian children even during communist rule and was 
always tied to New Year's celebrations.







http://www.b92.net//eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=12&dd=28&nav_id=56057

Preševo: Albanians protest KLA arrests 28 December 2008 | 19:10 | 
Source: B92, Beta PREŠEVO -- Several hundred ethnic Albanians gathered 
today in Preševo, southern Serbia, to protest the arrests of ex-KLA 
members suspected of war crimes.

The protest in Preševo (FoNet)
The families of the ten suspects, and an association of former members 
of the so-called Liberation Army of Preševo, Bujanovac, and Medveđa 
(UCPMB)– a KLA offshoot in the region – accused the Serb authorities of 
causing tensions in the area known as the Preševo valley, and of 
intimidating the Albanians living there.

The gathering also heard that Interior Minister Ivica Dačić is 
continuing with Slobodan Milošević's policies, all with the intent of 
intimidating the local Albanians.

The Serbian state organs were also accused of bringing militarization, 
violence and instability, instead of development and economic progress.

The rally, that ended without any incidents, also asked for 
international factors to get involved the case, including the 
governments in Priština, and Tirana.

The protesters carried Albanian flags and banners that read, "KLA 
warriors don't belong in jail", "We want freedom in our areas", "Preševo 
valley is a problem that demands a solution", "Stop to searches", and, 
"NATO in Preševo valley".

Ljuljzim Ibisi of the association gathering former UCMBP members – a 
group that launched armed rebellion in the region after the war in 
Kosovo, which ended with international mediation in 2001 – said that 
while the ten men detained on Friday were KLA members, "they have 
nothing to do with war crimes accusations".

"They were KLA members, but they did not go to war against civilians. 
UNMIK and KFOR were in Kosovo at the time, so wouldn't they have 
arrested them, had they really committed crimes," said Ibisi.

He also said that he "doubts the numbers" of missing and kidnapped Serbs 
from the Gnjilane area which he "first heard about two days ago from the 
police", but added that if they were true, all those who committed 
crimes should be found and punished, "and that goes for the missing 
Serbs and Albanians".

"The state of Serbia should get serious and respect human rights, 
instead of getting ideas when they've nothing to do – let's go to 
Preševo and make a rebellion and demonstrate how efficient we are," said 
Ibisi.

The ten men MUP Gendarmes arrested and took to Belgrade on Friday were 
today interrogated by a judge in the Serbian capital.

The War Crimes Prosecution ordered their arrest on suspicion that they 
took part in kidnapping, rape, mutilation, torture, and monstrous 
murders of at least 51 Serbs and non-Albanians in Gnjilane after the 
1999 war in the province.








http://www.politics.hu/20081103/slovak-embassy-in-budapest-cordoned-off-after-protests

November 03, 2008, 7:57 CET
news
Slovak embassy in Budapest cordoned off after protests
By MTI
Police have pulled a double barrier around the Slovak embassy in 
Budapest and are searching demonstrators who have come to protest 
"police excesses" at a soccer game in Dunajska Streda, Slovakia, earlier 
on Saturday.
About 1,000 Hungarians from far right organisations travelled to the 
game where several were injured in scuffles with police.
About 150 protectors gathered near the Slovak embassy after several 
Internet websites alleged - falsely - that a Hungarian had died of 
injuries at the game. Hungarian police issued a press release confirming 
that Hungarians had been injured but that none were in life-threatening 
condition.
Far right groups had appeared at a game between Bratislava soccer team 
Slovan and Dunajska Streda, a team from an ethnic Hungarian region in 
southern Slovakia. With football hooligans supporting both teams, police 
made multiple arrests and a number of fans on both sides were injured. 
Internet messages for days before the game promised that ultra-rightists 
from Poland and the Czech Republic would be supporting their Slovak 
counterparts. About 1,000 far right Hungarians took up the gauntlet.








http://conservengland.blogspot.com/2008/11/they-shoot-environmentalists-dont-they.html

Thursday, November 27, 2008
They Shoot Environmentalists Don't They
Shoot, or in the case of Mikhail Beketov, beat within inches of life. 
With such attacks it becomes ever clearer that preserving our 
environment is the key battleground of social struggles now and into the 
future.

Saving a forest

“Beketov, 49, is a journalist, the owner and editor-in-chief of a local 
newspaper, Khimkinskaya Pravda, which has been critical of the 
authorities in Khimki. Beketov blew the whistle more than once on local 
officials and murky businesses.

His latest battle was to try to save a section of the Khimki forest 
where developers want to build a commercial and service centre, part of 
a future highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg.

The first threats came a year ago. In May 2007, his car was set on fire. 
Last summer, his puppy was shot dead by strangers in front of his 
neighbours' eyes. Then, a few weeks ago, he received a phone call. An 
unknown voice said: "You are targeted."

To protest the brutal attack on Beketov, a small group of about a dozen 
people gathered last week in a square near the Kremlin on a cold 
November afternoon …

It is difficult to know exactly how many journalists and social 
activists have been attacked and murdered in Russia in recent years. The 
U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 47 
Russian journalists have been killed in questionable circumstances since 
1992. Of those that took place in the past eight years, 13 "bear the 
marks of contract hits," it says. "







http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2008/11/window-on-eurasia-bashkir-leader-plays.html

Monday, November 10, 2008
Window on Eurasia: Bashkir Leader Plays Nationalist Card with 
Demonstration against Moscow
Paul Goble

Vienna, November 10 – In what one Russian analyst describes as the one 
of the first such actions of its type since the 1990s, Bashkortostan 
President Murtaza Rakhimov has organized a nationalist protest in his 
republic in an effort to block Moscow’s apparent plans to remove him and 
thus institute tighter central control over his Middle Volga republic.
Just as Soviet commentators did in the late 1980s, Moscow reporting on 
this weekend’s demonstration sought to dismiss this demonstration as 
nothing more than political PR by the republic leadership. But in fact, 
the coming together of the nationalists and of republic elites 
represents a more serious challenge to the center than either would on 
its own.
On Saturday, approximately 150 young people picketed the Sibay city 
offices of Duma deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov and Andrey Nazarov. They 
carried signs reading: “Federal Officials – Hands Off Bashkortostan!” 
“This isn’t Chechnya!” and “Murtaza, We are with You!” 
(www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1054628&NodesID=2).
Speakers at the demonstration, which took place without incident in a 
city some 420 kilometers from the republic capital of Ufa, accused the 
two United Russia deputies of “ignoring the interests of the republics,” 
demanded that they be removed from office, and called on Moscow “to stop 
interfering in the affairs of Bashkortostan.”
In their comments to the Moscow media, spokesman for the two deputies 
said that this action had been “inspired by the local powers that be” 
and reflected the tensions between Moscow and Ufa over the future 
leadership of the republic. (Rakhimov has long been rumored to be on the 
short list for replacement.)
And these spokesmen added that the participants in the rally were all 
members of a youth group that they insisted is completely under the 
control of the republic’s leader as well as officials from local 
government offices whose positions are in Rakhimov’s gift and therefore 
do what they are told 
(www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article.shtml?2008/11/10/167997).
Nazarov for his part added that there was no way that either he or 
Krasheninnikov could be recalled, and consequently, the Bashkir 
authorities were going in for this and other forms of “psychological 
pressure,” pressure that he suggested both pro-Kremlin deputies could 
safely ignore.
But the coming together of these two forces – nationalism in the 
population and a willingness to use it in the republic elites – may be 
something that he and others will regret dismissing, especially if what 
Aleksei Titkov, an expert at the Moscow Institute of Regional Politics, 
says is the case.
According to him, such elite-supported national protests were a regular 
feature of the unstable 1990s. During the Putin years, they had seldom 
taken place. And this one in Bashkortostan represents the first of its 
kind in recent times, a possible bellwether for what may happen next.







http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/11/09/2003428169

Thousands take to streets in Tbilisi demonstration

AP, TBILISI
Sunday, Nov 09, 2008, Page 6
Thousands of flag-waving protesters brought Tbilisi traffic to a 
standstill on Friday in the first major protest against Georgian 
President Mikhail Saakashvili since the country’s war with Russia.
Widespread skepticism is undermining Saakashvili’s claims about the war, 
emboldening former allies angry about the botched conflict and alienated 
by what they call his authoritarian style.

But a fractured opposition, fear of renewed hostilities with Russia and 
lingering support suggest the gathering political storm is unlikely to 
topple the pro-Western president soon.

“There’s no sign in the last week that the wheels are coming off the 
bus,” said Jonathan Kulick, an analyst at the Georgian Center for 
Strategic and International Studies. “You have an administration with 
somewhat less appeal to its foreign friends and benefactors, but I just 
don’t see that he’s on the way out.”

Anger over Georgia’s losses in the war has compounded dissatisfaction 
among Saakashvili’s opponents, but appears to have gained little 
traction so far among the general population.

On Friday, the United Opposition coalition brought more than 10,000 
protesters onto the streets of Tbilisi, exactly one year after riot 
police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse 
peaceful demonstrators calling for Saakashvili’s ouster.

The crowd was far smaller than the throngs whose protests culminated in 
the crackdown last year — a disappointing signal for an opposition 
wracked by infighting and lacking broad popular support.

A September poll conducted by the US-based, government-funded 
International Republican Institute indicated support for Saakashvili and 
his government was higher than before the war. A majority of those 
polled — 52 percent — said that they would vote for Saakashvili if 
elections were held the following Sunday. That figure was up from 34 
percent in February.

Ana Jelenkovic, an analyst at The Eurasia Group, said the numbers likely 
point less to Saakashvili’s popularity than to the opposition’s failure 
to present a coherent, attractive message.

“There’s ample room for a political opposition, but that political space 
simply hasn’t been filled,” she said.

The poll showed that most Georgians support Saakashvili’s main defense 
of the war: that Russia started it.

According to the survey, 84 percent of Georgians believe that “Georgia 
reacted to Russian military aggression in South Ossetia,” compared with 
9 percent who said that Georgia started the war.







http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012956270

Georgians Protest Against Government, Demand Early Elections
ShareThis
November 8, 2008 4:21 a.m. EST
AHN Staff
Tbilisi, Georgia (AHN) - Thousands of Georgians demonstrated outside the 
parliament building in Tbilisi on Friday demanding fresh elections in 
spring and commemorating last year's violent dispersal of an 
anti-government rally.
"Our main demand is free and fair parliamentary and presidential 
elections next spring," opposition leader Levan Gachechiladze said, 
according to Al Jazeera.
The protesters warned that more anti-government demonstrations across 
the country will be held if President Mikheil Saakashvili fails to call 
a parliamentary election by April 9.
It was the first opposition demonstration against Saakashvili since the 
military conflict between Georgia and Russia in August, when Russian 
forces invaded the country after the Georgian army tried to take over 
the breakaway province of South Ossetia.








http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/world/europe/08georgia.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Protesters Condemn President of Georgia

Justyna Mielnikiewicz
Residents of Tbilisi, Georgia, gathered at a rally outside Parliament on 
Friday. Opposition politicians at the condemned President Mikheil 
Saakashvili’s handling of the war with Russia.

By OLESYA VARTANYAN and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ
Published: November 7, 2008
TBILISI, Georgia — Thousands of antigovernment demonstrators poured into 
the streets of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, on Friday, hoping to weaken 
the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili as it strives to 
maintain power despite a catastrophic war with Russia and a growing 
economic malaise at home.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question (November 7, 2008)
The large, though generally subdued, demonstration occurred one year 
after black-helmeted riot police officers violently quashed opposition 
protests in Tbilisi, pelting unarmed civilians with clubs and rubber 
bullets, and using tear gas and water cannons to chase the protesters 
from the streets.
That event roused accusations domestically and internationally that the 
president’s promises of democracy and reform, which he made upon taking 
power in a bloodless coup in 2003, had fallen short, leaving Georgia 
only slightly more democratic than the country’s post-Soviet neighbors, 
including Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.
But while Mr. Saakashvili is perhaps still off kilter after last year’s 
political tumult and the war with Russia in August — which many see as a 
humiliation for Georgia that the president may have provoked — he 
remains popular and appears still to be very much in control.
At Friday’s protest, opposition politicians condemned Mr. Saakashvili’s 
handling of the war and blamed the president for losing two separatist 
Georgian enclaves, South Ossetia, over which the war was fought, and 
Abkhazia. Russia has consolidated its control of both enclaves and now 
recognizes them as independent states, despite widespread international 
disapproval of the move.
Protesting opposition members also repeated accusations of fraud in 
presidential and parliamentary elections held this year, and they called 
for early elections to be held in the spring.
But the message was equally one of patience, with opposition leaders 
apparently using the protest to gauge the political mood just months 
after a majority of Georgians rallied to the side of Mr. Saakashvili in 
the face of a Russian invasion.
“It is impossible to reach freedom in half an hour, one hour or two 
hours,” Kakha Kukava, an opposition leader, told the protesters.
Some of the demonstrators were disappointed in calls to wait, saying 
they would like Mr. Saakashvili and his team to be removed from power 
immediately, lest they provoke renewed fighting with Russia.
“Saakashvili should go right now,” said Eka Jipashvili, a protesters. 
“We need a new government that will be able to negotiate with Russia and 
will not worry us with ideas of new war.”
Few analysts, however, think Mr. Saakashvili’s immediate removal is 
possible, given the fractured state of the opposition. Some central 
opposition figures skipped the protest, including Nino Burdzhanadze, a 
former speaker of the Parliament and an erstwhile confidant of Mr. 
Saakashvili, who broke with the president in April.
“I don’t think the opposition is going to storm the president’s office, 
storm Parliament and take over Georgia,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a 
Georgia expert at Columbia University.
Friday’s demonstration appeared to be largely a victory for the Georgian 
government, which has been under increasing scrutiny internally and by 
backers in Western governments. The government has said it aspires to 
follow the democratic principles espoused by Mr. Saakashvili, but 
critics say it has receded in practice.
The demonstration, which the government allowed, occurred without 
problems, and few police officers were on the streets.
It was muted compared with last year’s raucous protests. Back then, 
about 500 people were injured, though none fatally, in the police 
crackdown, which was the culmination of a month of political turmoil 
that had pushed the once enormously popular government of Mr. 
Saakashvili to the verge of implosion and that had stained relations 
with the president’s allies in Europe and the United States.
Yet Mr. Saakashvili survived politically, unexpectedly conceding to 
opposition demands and declaring early presidential elections that 
temporarily eased internal political tensions and foreign criticism. He 
won the elections, though there were accusations of fraud by the 
opposition.
In a televised appeal made last month, Mr. Saakashvili said he had 
learned painful lessons from last year’s police violence and vowed to 
prevent a recurrence.
“We have all learned big lessons from Nov. 7,” he said. “We have seen 
mistakes made by the Georgian authorities.”
He added: “Those events demonstrate how important it is for the 
government and the president to listen to the people, and how important 
it is to maintain dialogue even with minor groups.”
Olesya Vartanyan reported from Tbilisi, Georgia, and Michael Schwirtz 
from Moscow.
Correction: November 29, 2008
An article on Nov. 8 about an antigovernment protest in Georgia on the 
first anniversary of a violently suppressed demonstration referred 
imprecisely to the reasons Nino Burdzhanadze, now an opposition leader, 
split with the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Ms. 
Burdzhanadze, who was speaker of the parliament, split with the 
president and left her job for several reasons, including that she felt 
his party was not giving her sufficient support; she did not break with 
the president solely over the government’s actions during last year’s 
demonstration. The article also referred imprecisely to when she broke 
with the government. It was in April, not immediately after last 
November’s crackdown.





http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/world/europe/21georgia.html

Opposition in Georgia Makes Call for Protests

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: October 20, 2008
TBILISI, Georgia — A political opponent of Mikheil Saakashvili, the 
president of Georgia, called on Monday for mass protests on Nov. 7, the 
first anniversary of a government crackdown on demonstrators that left 
500 people injured.
The opponent, Levan Gachechiladze, who lost to Mr. Saakashvili in 
presidential elections in January, urged demonstrators to gather in 
front of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi, the site of last year’s 
violence.
Making his announcement about the protest on the Parliament steps, Mr. 
Gachechiladze said the purpose would be to call Mr. Saakashvili to 
account for Georgia’s losses in the August war against Russia over the 
disputed enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He has also accused the 
government of tainting the results of parliamentary elections and 
presidential elections.
“The opposition is going to renew the waves of protest and ask President 
Saakashvili to take responsibility for his actions last year,” Mr. 
Gachechiladze said.
Last November, Mr. Gachechiladze was among the leaders who directed six 
days of antigovernment protests, alleging renewed corruption and 
increasing economic inequality. On Nov. 7, riot police officers fired 
rubber bullets and used clubs to beat unarmed protesters, and Mr. 
Saakashvili closed an opposition television station and ordered a 
nine-day state of emergency, causing many to question Georgia’s 
democratic credentials. Saying he needed to restore his mandate, Mr. 
Saakashvili ordered early elections, in which he won 52.8 percent of the 
vote and Mr. Gachechiladze won 27 percent.





http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav102008b.shtml

EURASIA INSIGHT
ARMENIA: THE OPPOSITION TAKES A BREAK FROM YEREVAN PROTESTS
Marianna Grigoryan 10/20/08
Print this article Email this article
Nearly eight months after Armenia’s presidential election, Yerevan cars 
may still fly the national tricolor to show support for ex-President 
Levon Ter-Petrosian, but the opposition’s recent decision to call a 
temporary halt to rallies suggests that its appeal is sagging, some 
observers believe.
At an October 17 rally in downtown Yerevan, Ter-Petrosian cited the need 
to support the government in talks with Azerbaijan over the disputed 
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as the reason for the decision to stop the 
protests, ongoing since Armenia’s February presidential vote. [For 
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"The suspension of the rallies and the marches does not mean that the 
movement gives up its political struggle and the demands made with it," 
Ter-Petrosian told demonstrators.
One independent political analyst, however, argued that a 
better-organized and mobilized opposition would not have needed to take 
a break. "In this situation, when the authorities are taking active 
steps in the foreign policy domain and making the opposition weaker, it 
is important what stance the opposition leaders will have," said Yervand 
Bozoian. "Had the opposition had clear programs, I think it would not 
have to take a break. I think they made wrong calculations and the 
statement that they’re taking a break for awhile because of foreign 
tensions is not that convincing."
The "clear action plan" promised by Ter-Petrosian a few days after the 
February 19 election has not yet surfaced, leaving some to wonder if the 
opposition is fragmented, or just cannot come up with concrete policy 
proposals. More than 120 opposition activists and supporters still 
remain in jail after the March 2008 crackdown on protestors, while 
police remain on watch at Yerevan’s Liberty Square, the opposition’s 
traditional gathering place.
Nikol Pashinian, the editor-in-chief of the largest and best-selling 
opposition daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, and, along with Ter-Petrosian, a 
driving force behind the opposition rallies, has gone into hiding 
abroad. He now encourages supporters via a series of articles and 
editorials.
With the start of construction on an underground parking garage for 
Liberty Square, though, some supporters believe that the government has 
gotten a permanent jump on Ter-Petrosian’s movement and its rallies. The 
construction will last two years; the city government has denied, 
however, that the project is intended to block protests.
For many Armenians, the opposition’s rallies have failed to produce 
results. "To be frank, I don’t understand why so many people lost their 
lives. What is this struggle for?" asked one Yerevan cab driver about 
the eight people who died in the March 2008 clash between protestors and 
police. "People had such great expectations, but the victory promised by 
the opposition appears to have remained only an unfulfilled promise."
Yerevan engineer Mkrtich Hakobian counters that eight months is too 
short a time period to realize any of those expectations. "Society wants 
a power change very quickly, but politicians are there for providing 
realistic solutions to emerging problems based on pragmatism," said 
Hakobian, who took part in the October 17 rally.
Meanwhile, President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration has exhibited 
policy pragmatism designed to prevent the opposition from gaining 
traction. For example, reforms have been launched in customs and tax 
administration, while Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian (no relation to 
Serzh Sargsyan) declared an official campaign against corruption, 
leading to the firing of several senior officials.
In foreign policy, the unprecedented invitation to Turkish President 
Abdullah Gul to visit Yerevan in September is seen as another display of 
Sargsyan’s pragmatism. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Yet that pragmatism has its limits. No dialogue between the opposition 
and the government has yet taken place, and the general level of 
democracy in Armenia, according to international organizations, remains 
questionable.
Senior Ter-Petrosian supporter Suren Sureniants argues that a strong 
public desire for democratic change does, in fact, exist; it all comes 
down to tactics, he adds. "Tactics need to be developed on a day-to-day 
basis, hour by hour, and this is being done. In the coming months, I 
think, we will witness the opposition’s materialization."
Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com in 
Yerevan.




http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2008-10-03/Parliament_siege_remembered.html

Parliament siege remembered
permalinke-mail story to a friendprint version
03 October, 2008, 12:43
Russia is marking 15 years since the constitutional crisis which almost 
led to the civil war.
Yahoo StumbleUpon Google Live Technorati
Scoop del.icio.us Digg Sphinn Furl Reddit
In autumn 1993, the confrontation between the executive and the 
legislative branches of the government reached its peak. It ended in a 
tank assault of the then Parliament building – the White House.
The crisis began in September, when President Boris Yeltsin dissolved 
the country's legislature, dominated by conservatives who were resisting 
reforms.
They voted to remove Yeltsin from the presidency through impeachment and 
barricaded themselves inside the White House.
Mass demonstrations erupted on October 2. Shortly afterwards the 
Ostankino TV centre was stormed.
President Yeltsin ordered the situation to be resolved through force. 
Tanks shelled the White House, resulting in the surrender of the 
resisting legislators within.
The crisis claimed at least 150 lives, becoming the worst street clashes 
Moscow had witnessed since Bolshevik revolution.






http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp081116070049.chglom5kp2&show_article=1

Former political prisoners protest against crimes commited under 
Albania's communist regime

Former political prisoners protest against crimes commited under the 
communist regime on 100th birth anniversary of the late dictator Enver 
Hoxha, in Tirana, on October 16. Hoxha led the resistance movement in 
occupied Albania during the World War II before taking over the power 
after the conflict. He then led the country with an iron fist until his 
death in April 1985.





http://www.rferl.org/Content/Opposition_Vows_New_Protests_In_Russias_Ingushetia/1196037.html

Opposition Vows New Protests In Russia's Ingushetia

Magomed Yevloyev
September 03, 2008
By Reuters
NAZRAN, Russia -- Police blocked streets in the capital of Russia's 
volatile Ingushetia region today to prevent new protests over the death 
of an opposition leader, which the United States has called on Moscow to 
investigate.

Despite the authorities' promise to disperse protests, the new head of 
Ingushetia's opposition website told Reuters he would push for fresh 
demonstrations against Ingush President Murat Zyazikov.

"I can't tell you where we will meet, but we absolutely will do it," 
Maksharip Aushev said.

Aushev took over as editor of ingushetiya.ru after police on August 31 
shot Magomed Yevloyev, one of the republic's leading opposition figures 
and owner of the website.

The police said Yevloyev lunged for a gun whilst in their custody but 
human rights groups rejected this account and said police murdered him.

'Assassination'

The 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
described the shooting as an "assassination" intended to halt dissent. 
The United States called Yevloyev's death "very disturbing."

"Russian officials need to get to the bottom of it. And there needs to 
be people held to account for what happened," State Department spokesman 
Sean McCormack said.

Ingushetia, a poor, mainly Muslim republic of about 400,000 people, 
neighbors Chechnya and North Ossetia at the heart of Russia's volatile 
North Caucasus.

Bomb attacks and murders have racked the territory this year as federal 
forces and rebels fight for control -- instability which analysts say 
could spread.

On the dusty streets of the capital, Nazran, Ruslan, a local businessman 
who declined to give his surname, watched police block roads leading to 
the main square. On September 2, eyewitnesses said police with batons 
broke up an opposition protest there.

He said he believed the police had murdered Yevloyev.

'Where All Evil Comes From'

"The opposition is right, but there is something lacking," Ruslan said. 
"The opposition is too weak to fight such a monster as the FSB, where 
all evil comes from."

The FSB is Russia's domestic security agency, which New York-based Human 
Rights Watch blamed earlier this year for a series of abductions and 
murders in Ingushetia.

Ingush President Zyazikov and Russian courts have tried to ban 
ingushetiya.ru throughout the year but the website has survived and 
Aushev promised to build on Yevloyev's work.

"We'll continue to tell our audience about the arbitrariness and 
widespread violations of Russian law in Ingushetia," he said.

Yevloyev was the highest-profile journalist to die in Russia since the 
2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, best known for her critical reporting 
of the Kremlin's wars in Chechnya.

Another journalist also died in the North Caucasus today. In Dagestan, 
police blamed Islamic radicals for the murder of a television station 
editor who promoted an officially sanctioned form of Islam.







http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-09/2008-09-02-voa25.cfm?CFID=84575585&CFTOKEN=43398280

Russian Police Break Up Protest in Ingushetia
By VOA News
02 September 2008

Russian police in the southern republic of Ingushetia used batons to 
break up a protest Tuesday against the fatal shooting of opposition 
journalist Magomed Yevloyev while in police custody.

Police dispersed hundreds of activists who spent the night in the 
central square of the town of Nazran.


People attend an opposition rally in Nazran in the sourthern Russian 
republic of Ingushetia, 01 Sep 2008
The protesters reject police claims that Yevloyev's death was an 
accident. They demand that Ingush leader Murat Zyazikov resign.

U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack calls Yevloyev's death 
very disturbing and says Russian officials need to, in his words, "get 
to the bottom of it." The Russian prosecutor general's office has opened 
a criminal investigation.

Yevloyev, who owned the pro-opposition Web site Ingushetia.ru was killed 
by a bullet to the head Sunday while in police custody.

The Web site says police took him off an airplane upon his arrival in 
Ingushetia, put him in the back of a police car, and drove him away for 
questioning.

Police say Yevloyev was shot accidentally when he tried to grab an 
officer's gun. But human rights groups and Yevloyev's supporters believe 
he was murdered.

Yevloyev was highly critical of Ingushetia's Kremlin-backed government, 
including Zyazikov. Authorities have been trying to shut down his Web site.

A top official of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe, Miklos Haraszti, called Yevloyev's death "outrageous." He said 
the assassination represents further deterioration of media freedom in 
Russia.

Ingushetia borders Russia's Chechnya region, where pro-Islamic 
separatists have been battling the Russian government for more than a 
decade.






http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L3403570.htm

Opposition vow new protests in Russia's Ingushetia
03 Sep 2008 11:58:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
NAZRAN, Russia, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Police blocked streets in the capital 
of Russia's volatile Ingushetia region on Wednesday to prevent new 
protests over the death of an opposition leader, which the United States 
has called on Moscow to investigate.
Despite the authorities' promise to disperse protests, the new head of 
Ingushetia's opposition website told Reuters he would push for fresh 
demonstrations against Ingush President Murat Zyazikov.
"I can't tell you where we will meet but we absolutely will do it," 
Maksharip Aushev said.
Aushev took over as editor of www.ingushetiya.ru after police on Sunday 
shot Magomed Yevloyev, one of the republic's leading opposition figures 
and owner of the website.
The police said Yevloyev lunged for a gun whilst in their custody but 
human rights groups rejected this account and said police murdered him.
The 56-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
described the shooting as an "assassination" intended to halt dissent. 
The United States called Yevloyev's death "very disturbing".
"Russian officials need to get to the bottom of it. And there needs to 
be people held to account for what happened," State Department spokesman 
Sean McCormack said.
Ingushetia, a poor, mainly Muslim republic of about 400,000 people, 
neighbours Chechnya and North Ossetia at the heart of Russia's volatile 
North Caucasus.
Bomb attacks and murders have racked the territory this year as federal 
forces and rebels fight for control -- instability which analysts say 
could spread.
On the dusty streets of the capital Nazran, Ruslan, a local businessman 
who declined to give his surname, watched police block roads leading to 
the main square. On Tuesday, eyewitnesses said police with batons broke 
up an opposition protest there.
He said he believed the police had murdered Yevloyev.
"The opposition is right but there is something lacking," Ruslan said. 
"The opposition is too weak to fight such a monster as the FSB where all 
evil comes from."
The FSB is Russia's domestic security agency, which New York-based Human 
Rights Watch blamed earlier this year for a series of abductions and 
murders in Ingushetia.
Ingush president Zyazikov and Russian courts have tried to ban 
ingushetiya.ru throughout the year but the website has survived and 
Aushev promised to build on Yevloyev's work.
"We'll continue to tell our audience about the arbitrariness and 
widespread violations of Russian law in Ingushetia," he said.
Yevloyev was the highest-profile journalist to die in Russia since the 
2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, best known for her critical reporting 
of the Kremlin's wars in Chechnya.
Another journalist also died in the North Caucasus on Wednesday. In 
Dagestan, police blamed Islamic radicals for the murder of a television 
station editor who promoted an officially sanctioned form of Islam. 
(Writing by James Kilner in Moscow, editing by Mark Trevelyan)







http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL143138920080901?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Russian police in standoff over journalist's death
Mon Sep 1, 2008 1:30pm EDT

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) - Police in Russia's troubled Ingushetia region 
were in a standoff on Monday with protesters angered by the death of a 
leading opposition journalist who was shot in the head while in police 
custody.
Magomed Yevloyev, owner of opposition Internet site www.ingushetiya.ru, 
is the most high-profile Russian journalist to be killed since 
investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was shot outside her Moscow 
apartment in October 2006.
Police said Yevloyev, who was a leading opponent of Ingushetia's 
Kremlin-backed leader Murat Zyazikov, was shot by accident when he tried 
to grab an officer's gun. His supporters and human rights groups said 
they did not believe that version of events.
A Reuters reporter in Ingushetia's biggest city Nazran said riot police 
were lined up on a central square where about 250 people, some of them 
armed with wooden sticks and truncheons, were demanding Zyazikov leave 
his post.
A helicopter flew several times at low altitude over the demonstrators, 
who ignored police instructions to disperse.
Earlier in the day, about 1,000 protesters chanting "Allahu Akbar," or 
"God is Great," gathered around a truck in the square which was carrying 
Yevloyev's coffin.
"They killed our colleague in a dastardly and open way. If the federal 
authorities do not intervene in what is happening, we have the right to 
demand Ingushetia's secession from Russia," Magomed Khazbiyev, a protest 
organiser, told the crowd.
TINDERBOX
Zyazikov told Russia's Interfax news agency Yevloyev's killing was a 
"human tragedy" which would be thoroughly investigated. But he warned he 
would not allow anyone to use the incident to destabilize Ingushetia.
Yevloyev's colleagues said police detained him after he arrived from 
Moscow on the same flight as Zyazikov.
Interior Ministry officials were taking Yevloyev from Magas airport to 
Nazran when the incident occurred.
"Yevloyev attempted to grab the weapon of one of the officers 
accompanying him. As a result the unidentified officer inflicted a 
penetrating gunshot wound to Yevloyev's head," a ministry spokeswoman said."
Yevloyev's killing is likely to add to tension in a region which is 
already a tinderbox because of poverty, a violent Islamist insurgency 
and accusations Zyazikov crushes dissent.
France, holder of the European Union presidency, said in a statement 
issued by its Foreign Ministry it learned of Yevloyev's death "with 
consternation" and that it was "deeply concerned by attacks on media 
freedom" in the region.
Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media freedom, group, said the 
explanations given by the Ingush authorities for Yevloyev's death made 
no sense. "We are outraged by the death of Yevloyev," it said. "His 
death must not go unpunished."
Russian prosecutors said they had started a criminal investigation under 
article 109 of the criminal code: causing death through carelessness.
Russian media reported that the editor of ingushetiya.ru, Rosa 
Malsagova, fled Russia this year saying she feared for her life. A 
Moscow court in May closed down the site, saying it was publishing 
extremist material.
Yevloyev spearheaded a campaign which tried to prove Ingushetia's 
authorities had rigged an election last year to give more than 90 
percent support to a pro-Kremlin party.
(Additional reporting by Aydar Buribaev in Moscow; Writing by Christian 
Lowe; Editing by Mary Gabriel)






http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/01/europe/slay.php

1,000 protest killing of journalist in Ingushetia

Reuters
Published: September 1, 2008

NAZRAN, Russia: More than 1,000 people gathered in Russia's troubled 
Ingushetia region Monday to protest the death of Magomed Yevloyev, a 
leading journalist and opposition leader who was shot over the weekend 
while in police custody.
Yevloyev, owner of the opposition Internet site www.ingushetiya.ru, was 
the most high-profile Russian journalist to be killed since the 
investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was shot outside her Moscow 
apartment in October 2006.
The police said he had been shot by accident when he tried to grab an 
officer's gun.
His supporters and human rights groups said they did not believe that 
version of events.
Yevloyev had often clashed with Ingushetia's Kremlin-backed leader, 
Murat Zyazikov, and officials had tried to close down his Internet site.

Protesters gathered Monday in a central square of Nazran, Ingushetia's 
biggest city, around a truck that was carrying Yevloyev's coffin.
"They killed our colleague in a dastardly and open way," Magomed 
Khazbiyev, a protest organizer, told the crowd. "If the federal 
authorities do not intervene in what is happening, we have the right to 
demand Ingushetia's secession from Russia."
The protesters responded with loud shouts of "Allahu Akbar," or "God is 
Great." About half of them left when Yevloyev's body was taken for 
burial. About 500 people remained and said they would not leave until 
Zyazikov had left his post.
The local administration declined to comment Monday on the killing, 
which is likely to add to tension in a region that is already a 
tinderbox because of poverty, a violent Islamist insurgency and 
accusations that Zyazikov crushes dissent.
Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media freedom group, said the 
explanations given by the authorities for Yevloyev's death made no sense.
"We are outraged by the death of Yevloyev, who demonstrated his courage 
and determination by reporting independent news in Ingushetia, although 
he and his family were harassed and threatened," it said. "His death 
must not go unpunished."






http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080901/116452619.html

Thousands protest police killing of S.Russia opposition activist
19:52 | 01/ 09/ 2008



MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Several thousand people gathered on 
Monday in Nazran, the main city in the south Russian republic of 
Ingushetia, to protest against the alleged murder of a local journalist 
and opposition activist by police.
Magomed Yevloyev, who ran a banned website that had called for protests 
against the local government, was shot in a police car on Sunday and 
died in hospital. Police have said he was shot by accident, a claim his 
supporters have rejected.
Protesters brought Yevolyev's body to the city center.
Magomed Khazbiyev, a local opposition leader, told reporters: "There is 
a huge number of people here. The rally has been underway for an hour. 
Magomed Yevloyev has not been buried, his body is here, at the rally."
An Interior Ministry source said earlier that Yevloyev had been detained 
by police at the local Magas Airport and driven in a police vehicle to 
Nazran to give testimony regarding "a criminal case."
"Preliminary reports say that while the vehicle that Yevloyev and the 
police officers were in was moving, one of the officers' guns 
accidentally went off, and a bullet hit Yevloyev in the head," the 
source said.
Investigators from the local prosecutor's office said on Sunday that a 
probe into Yevloyev's death would be carried out.
Yevloyev's website, Ingushetia.ru, was closed down earlier this year 
after being declared extremist. Local authorities said the website had 
called on people to take part in unsanctioned demonstrations in January. 
The protests against the local administration were banned over public 
safety fears. The decision to close the website was approved by a Moscow 
court in August.
France's Foreign Ministry has urged Russia to conduct a full 
investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yevloyev's death.









http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122268452889085379.html?mod=fox_australian

• SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
Belarus Fails Election Test
Observers Deem Vote Count 'Bad'; Opposition Protests

By ANDREW OSBORN
MINSK, Belarus -- European observers said an election in Belarus that 
failed to elect a single opposition lawmaker "fell short" of democratic 
standards, dealing a setback to Minsk's hopes of a rapprochement with 
the West.
Landov
A demonstration in Minsk following Sunday's vote, in which none of the 
opposition candidates won a seat in the Belarus parliament.
Belarus's autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko had promised 
Sunday's parliamentary election would be "unprecedented" in its 
fairness, paving the way for the lifting of Western sanctions and an end 
to the small country's pariah status.
But observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe noted only "minor improvements" since the previous legislative 
election four years ago.
"There were efforts," said Anne-Marie Lizin, vice president of the OSCE 
parliamentary assembly. "But at the same time we want to say that's not 
enough."
Washington, which had partially suspended financial sanctions against 
Minsk this year, responded quickly, saying the vote fell short of 
international standards. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita 
Ferrero-Waldner, in a statement, noted "positive indications but also a 
number of negative elements," Reuters reported.
Opposition activists in Belarus called on the U.S. and Europe not to 
recognize the vote. The overwhelmingly negative tone of the OSCE report 
suggested it would be hard for U.S. and European diplomats to take 
significant steps to improve relations with a country that has largely 
positioned itself as a Russian ally. The EU had said it might ease 
sanctions if the election was judged to be fair.
The OSCE said the greatest problem was with the vote-counting process, 
which it deemed "bad or very bad" in half of the country's 
constituencies. It also complained that around one-third of its 500 
observers were barred from watching the vote count. "Where access was 
possible, several cases of deliberate falsification of results were 
observed," the OSCE said in a statement.
"The transparency of a fundamental element of the election process was 
compromised," said Ms. Lizin.
The OSCE also said that while the opposition was allowed to campaign, 
restrictions imposed by authorities meant the campaign was "barely visible."
Counted Out
The OSCE found shortcomings in Belarus's parliamentary election Sunday, 
including:

09/26/08
A spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry said in a statement the 
OSCE had failed to evaluate the significance of technical measures taken 
to improve the election "in full measure."
He said the main point was that the observers had recognized efforts 
were made and that these could form a basis for future cooperation with 
the OSCE.
Mr. Lukashenko is trying to kick-start a moribund relationship with the 
West to breathe life into his country's Soviet-style economy as he comes 
under growing pressure from Moscow to pay substantially more for Russian 
natural gas. He has released political prisoners, hired a Western 
public-relations firm and halted systematic harassment of his opponents.
In the wake of August's conflict between Russia and Georgia, his 
significance as a strategic ally -- both for the West and for Russia -- 
has grown. He has resisted pressure from Moscow to recognize the 
Georgian breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in what 
diplomats say appears to be a bid not to alienate the West, which 
strongly opposed Moscow's move to recognize them.
Both the West and Russia have indicated they are ready to improve 
relations, given the right conditions. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir 
Putin is due in Minsk next week, underlining Mr. Lukashenko's newfound 
popularity with foreign powers.
Mr. Lukashenko's political opponents say he is playing a cynical 
bargaining game in order to play the West off against Russia to ensure 
his own political survival as the Belarusian economy begins to wheeze.
"If you try to negotiate with him, he will see it as a sign of 
weakness," Igor Rynkevich, an opposition candidate, said in an 
interview. "Any concessions will come back like a boomerang.








http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-09/29/content_10133604.htm

Post-election demonstration in Minsk



www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-29 20:49:57

Opposition protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Minsk, 
capital of Belarus, Sept. 28, 2008. Hundreds of opposition protesters 
demonstrated after the election of the country's lower house of 
parliament on Sunday. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)







http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/19/europe/EU-Albania-Protest.php

Albanians protest gov't handling of depot blasts

The Associated Press
Published: September 19, 2008

TIRANA, Albania: Thousands of Albanians marched through Tirana on Friday 
to protest the government's alleged mishandling of an investigation into 
deadly explosions this year at an ammunition dump.
The peaceful protest was organized by the main opposition Socialist 
Party, which called for Prime Minister Sali Berisha's government to 
resign. More than 5,000 people took part in the march.
The series of massive blasts near Tirana, Albania's capital, on March 15 
killed 26 people and injured more than 300. Although a judicial 
investigation has yet to establish the cause, the government has said 
the explosions were accidentally triggered during work to dispose of 
aging Communist-era ammunition.
The Socialists claim the governing Democrats have tried to prevent an 
impartial investigation by exerting pressure on Albania's judiciary.
Prosecutors have brought murder charges against a defense ministry 
official, as well as the owner and manager of the private company 
handling ammunition disposal.
The country's defense minister and army chief of staff were fired over 
the blasts.